More Numbers

I had been asked the question:

"I hope this is not the same as the Civic Center reconstruction after the fire -- the architect got a percent of the general contract, which included all the furniture and even consumables like towels and toilet paper -- what's the story on the station in the swamp?"

The achitect on record for the project was Davis, Bowen and Friedel. Their contract was negotiated directly with the General Contractor, Gillis Gilkerson. The amount paid to them by Gillis was $227,000. Their job on this project was to make sure that everything was built according to the specs.

In getting this answer, I also got a ton of other information. I will try my best to relay it to you, the way it was relayed to me.

When the idea of a new station was being tossed around, the volunteers hired Cole + Russell architects. One of their specialties is, you guessed it, firehouse design. The volunteers paid them $35,000 to do what is called a "space needs analysis". A simple set of plans was introduced which included everything a fire station for our area should have.

Land was acquired for the new station at a cost of $311,350.00. I know some aren't happy with the location, but as I've said before, a independant company was hired to do a study and see where the best place to build a new fire station was. That spot was it.

As the project moved forward, a place called Design Atlantic was hired to carry the project forward, while still working with Cole + Russell. This company brought the plans to about 40% of completion. The money paid to Design Atlantic was $431,680. This number is included in the "10 million dollar" price tag. Out of this money, engineers and testing companies were paid to make certain that the structure would meet necessary standards. Design Atlantic acted as the city's agent in building the structure. They sent out bids to several General Contractors and advised the city which bid came in lowest. Obviously, Gillis-Gilkerson was the low bid. After 1 change order, the contract amount to them was $8, 041,545.

The fitout of the building,which included furniture and fixtures, came to approximately $573,000.

Paving needed to be done on the roads around the project. The money for that was paid for out of the building's budget as well. That cost was aproximately $209,000.00.

As far as the bond money, there was an initial allocated amount of $500,000. In 2004, as another blog pointed out, there was an ordinance passed (Ordinance 1898) which allocated another 4 million dollars. The other ordinance mentioned (Ordinance 1934) was for the redesignation of funds from the aerial ladder truck to the purchase of two fire engines. There was no more money given there as some would like you to believe. To finish the financing for this project, the city chose Suntrust to lend 5.3 million dollars.

I believe the original cost proposal for this project was $9,855,000. The project finished at slightly under that cost.

Done, finished, occupied and from what I understand....enjoyed. I'm hoping to get to come around and see the new place soon.